Sacramento River Cats Ink Deal for San Francisco Giants' New AAA Team

Published Sep 18, 2014 at 11:43 PM

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Future San Francisco Giants will come from the Sacramento River Cats, which signed a new deal to become the Giants' new minor league team. (Photo by Thearon W. Henderson/Getty Images)

Going down to the minors now means a trip to Sacramento for San Francisco Giants players.

The Sacramento River Cats, long the Triple-A affiliate for the Oakland Athletics, dismissed the A's and inked a deal to become the AAA squad for the Giants on Thursday, according to reports.

The Sacramento Bee noted that the Giants are just more popular than the A's in Sacramento and the surrounding environs. A "wealth of fan feedback" precipitated River Cats management to pursue the change.

And with the Giants' old farm team in faraway Fresno, the decision may have been easy.

SF Giants 2014 Highlights

Most things for the River Cats will remain the same from an outsider's perspective: same team name, logo, uniforms and same Raley Field in downtown.

The Giants had sent top prospects and struggling starters alike down to Fresno for 17 years, the newspaper noted.

Meanwhile, the A's will now have a farm team in Nashville, the newspaper reported.